A social network is a social structure made of nodes (individual people) and edges (connections between people). It indicates the ways in which people are connected through social familiarities including acquaintances, friends, and families.
“Social networking services” refers to a class of online tools that enable participants to visualize, manage, and grow their social networks. Users of these websites value the services offered, primarily because they reinforce their connections with peers, introduce them to new individuals, and create opportunities to learn about ideas that people in their personal networks value.
Social networking websites often experience growth because each new member tends to invite their entire preexisting social network to join the new service. Attracted by the possibility of exponential growth, there are many contenders in the social networking service industry.
Personal electronic devices such as cell phones, digital cameras, and portable music players allow people to take their communication devices with them wherever they go. These devices are small digital computers, which have been designed to perform specific tasks. Cell phones for example exist primarily to place telephone calls, but are also used to send text messages, and store contact information.
Pet animals function as natural social devices. For example, walking a dog in a park can lead to conversations that one might not otherwise have. In this way, pets function as active icebreakers that will approach anyone without any notion of social inhibition. Pet walking is an example of a natural interaction in the physical world, which can introduce people, and establish new relationships.